Severance

I recently saw this film premiere in Manchester as part of the Sky Festival and I have to say, I was impressed. I went in expecting nothing much, having read the comments and other info on IMDb before I went. However, these do not do this film justice.

It was witty, clever, well written but managed to balance this perfectly with it's horror elements. The idea behind the story is seemingly unique within cinema, and therefore was interesting and kept the viewer gripped. The acting was of a high standard in particular, Andy Nyman. I would say that Danny Dyer's role was well-played etc etc, but I met him afterwards, (and there was also a Q+A session) and he was rather obnoxious, I didn't like him (think Moff from Human Traffic... that wasn't method acting).

As for the direction, it is very commendable, in fact, the director Chris Smith, held a Q+A after the film and he definitely knew what he was talking about, as a big horror fan/geek, that was refreshing to see, particularly since none of his other films have approached this genre with any gusto. The film is reminiscent of Calvaire (the ordeal) and you can definitely see this in the direction - (he did say that Calvaire was one of his favourite films when I questioned him about the similarities).

Overall the film is definitely worth your hard earned £6. A wonderful example of GOOD contemporary British cinema, something which is difficult to find these days. However, I can't help wondering whether or not it's all an allegory to British rave culture...?!?!

Severance is a pitch-black comedy/horror that successfully blends laughs with outrageous scenes of extreme violence to tell the tale of a group of employees for a weapons company who, whilst on a team-building weekend in Eastern Europe, run into trouble when they are attacked by masked assailants.

I found the film to be both highly amusing and also rather creepy, although how much you enjoy the film will depend on how warped your sense of humour is. I liked it a lot, but then my sense of humour has always been rather questionable.

The story, which bears some resemblance in places to the extremely over-rated Hostel, allows some conjecture on the audience's part as to exactly who the killers are—something I particularly liked. Theories are bandied about by the film's characters, but the issue is never resolved absolutely, allowing the audience to decide for themselves.

The likable cast give sterling performances and manage both the comedic and horrific elements with ease. Director Christopher Smith, who also made the rather humdrum Creep, handles the action well, and the film moves at a brisk pace delivering plenty of chills and thrills along the way.

And to cap it all, Smith makes sure that the gore-hounds get their quota of blood 'n' guts, and even finds time to throw in a couple of topless escort girls for good measure.

I give Severance a very respectable 7 out of 10.

A team-building weekend in the mountains of Eastern Europe goes horribly wrong for the sales division of the multi-national weapons company Palisade Defence when they become the victims of a group of crazed killers who will stop at nothing to see them dead.

I recall this film coming out in 2006 and getting a lot of positive buzz from horror fans. For one reason or another, I never ended up watching it until now (March 2013). And I must say, the buzz was probably correct -- while not among the best horror films out there, it sure is well above average.

The trick of this film is that it is a horror film, but only in its feeling. Terrorists, a bus flipping over, guns and bombs... that is an action film. This should be an action comedy. But the style is definitely in the horror vein, with the way certain things are presented (particularly the bear trap). What makes a horror film a horror film? That question has been asked many times, and I think this film definitely makes you wonder.

Although many of the references were lost on me, I now know (from looking into the production) that many of the scenes were evoking Kubrick ("2001", "Strangelove" and "Clockwork Orange") and other notable directors. I love it. I love the subtlety of these homages... the "Clockwork" scene was clear to me, but I also am probably most familiar with that Kubrick film (although I have seen them all at least once).

I would need to see this again to fully review it, but my initial impression is that it is a great blend of action, humor and horror. Well worth a look.

Gory, funny and frightening. The premise isn't that original, but the execution is mighty good and it succeeds in making you actually care for the characters. Well worth the watch!

I went into this film expecting a zombie movie for some reason, but actually Severance is more like a British version of Eli Roth's successful 'Hostel', albeit with a bit more humour. There have been a few good British horror movies over the past few years, including most notably the likes of Dog Soldiers, Shaun of the Dead, Wilderness and The Descent. I wouldn't say this one really lives up to the best of them; but Severance is good comedic and bloodthirsty fun, and there's certainly enough about it to ensure that the film stands tall as another feather in the cap of modern British horror. The film starts off in a truly nightmarish fashion; we are introduced to a bunch of office workers going on a 'team building' trip in the middle of nowhere. The prospect of this alone is enough to make me not want to sleep tonight, but it gets (arguably) worse for these guys it when it turns out that they're not the only ones in the middle of nowhere - a bunch of bloodthirsty maniacs turn out to be doing a bit of team building too!

The film is pretty slow to start, with the first half of the film merely seeing us being introduced to the cast of snivelling office workers. However, once the violence starts, the film really hots up as we get treated to a whole load of grisly sequences that see things such as decapitations and limbs being lopped off. The location is put to good use as our cast of characters finds themselves in the middle of an Eastern European country and director Christopher Smith does an excellent job of ensuring the tone of the film is always hopeless. The cast isn't anything to write home about, although Danny Dyer, who you might remember from the very decent British gangster flick The Business, does a good job of holding the film together. The humour doesn't blend as well with the horror as the director obviously thought it would, and this is where the film falls down for me. Severance would have been a better movie if the director could have made his mind up about exactly where he wanted to take it. As it happens, Severance is an entertaining mix of gore and laughs; but it's not at the cutting edge of modern horror.